They all want to know the same thing: What is the Toronto Marlies defenceman, who won the American Hockey League’s version of the Norris Trophy and finished tied for third in league scoring this season, doing in the minors? How could he not play a single game in the NHL this year?

Brennan, half-dressed in his skates following the morning skate before Game 4 of the AHL Western Conference final against the Texas Stars on Thursday, shrugs his shoulders and smiles.

“It’s just the way the game is,” says Brennan, who leads all defencemen in the Calder Cup playoffs with six goals in 11 games.

That answer is not really an answer. At least, it’s not the answer people are looking for. We want to hear that Brennan is a bad apple, that he has glaring defensive deficiencies and lacks the size, strength and stride to play in the NHL. That something is wrong. But to hear him tell it, the only thing holding Brennan back is a combination of luck and opportunity.

On another team, in another organization, the 25-year-old would probably be blasting one-timers from the point in the NHL. But this year, no matter how loudly he knocked, the door never opened because there was no reason to.

“The Leafs were playing well all year and they had no injuries,” Brennan says of a Leafs team that allowed the most shots per game in the league this season. “They never had a reason to call anyone up. I just like to look at it as it’s part of my path to get to where I want to be.”

Brennan’s path began in Willingboro, a suburb of Philadelphia on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. Growing up, he was a Flyers fan and played for the Little Flyers junior team before a summer coach convinced him to try out for the St. John’s Fog Devils of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

He was named the league’s top rookie defenceman in 2007 and that year was drafted 31st overall by the Buffalo Sabres — coincidentally using a pick that originally belonged to the Flyers. The Sabres saw in the 6-foot-1 and 215-pound Brennan a young Bryan McCabe. But after two more seasons in junior and three seasons developing in the minors, the Sabres sent him to Florida at the trade deadline in 2013.

“My first year in Buffalo, the year before there was like five defencemen hurt. And then the two years after that not one guy got hurt,” said Brennan, who always seemed at the wrong place at the wrong time. “And then I had a taste of it last year after the lockout and didn’t take advantage of the opportunity like I would have liked to.”

Brennan scored in his first game with the Panthers and finished the season with nine points in 19 games. He thought he’d at least get re-signed. Instead, after his rights were traded to Nashville, he signed a one-year contract with Toronto, because he liked his chance to crack the roster. But with the team already committed to Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner, there was little room for another offensive-minded defenceman.

And so, Brennan waited for the opportunity that never came.

“This year, I was expecting and wanting to play in the NHL,” Brennan said. “I ended up with the Marlies and we had a really successful year. It’s easy to dwell on the stuff you don’t have, but that’s one thing I’ve learned this year is to control what I can. It’s made me a better person and a better player.”

For Brennan, this season has been more of a mental challenge than a physical one. While there might be concerns about his play in the defensive zone, he dominated on offence, setting franchise records for a defenceman with 25 goals, 47 assists and 72 points. The next highest scoring defenceman in the AHL, Adam Clendening of Rockford, had 12 goals 59 points. Brennan’s efforts earned him the Eddie Shore Award as the league’s outstanding defenceman.

And yet, he was called up just once in October, spending two days with the Leafs without getting into a single game.

“Obviously, at times it could be hard, but it’s how you look at it,” Brennan said. “I want to play in the NHL, but I had a lot of great things happen to me because I didn’t. I’d be missing out on this.”

Indeed, this season might not be a total waste if it leads to a Calder Cup championship and eventually to a full-time job in the NHL. Brennan is a free agent on July 1. And after scoring twice in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to Texas, in an arena that was full of general managers and scouts in Toronto for this week’s NHL Draft Combine, more and more people are asking the same question: Why is he not playing in the NHL?

“I think the thing with T.J. is can he be trusted on the ice defensively? I have no problems with his defensive game,” said Marlies head coach Steve Spott. “All he needs is for someone to open the door for him.”

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